The upcoming match marks the first meeting between the two sides since February 2002 and will be the maiden clash between Dyche and Town boss Kieran McKenna. Both teams are presently situated towards the lower end of the table, with the Toffees only one point and one place ahead of the Blues in 16th position. Despite the standings, Dyche conveys optimism that his team will improve over the course of the season, using past disappointing results and performances as a foundation for progress.
In a recent pre-match press conference, Sean Dyche expressed his thoughts, saying, “First of all, I think they did terrific last season. I know the guys there pretty well and I think they’re good operators. They’re learning as they go. Last time out [v West Ham] was a tough one. That can happen in the Premier League. It’s hard to get a handle on it. In some games, you think you’ve got a handle on it and it goes away from you. It’ll be a learning curve for them, every game will be a learning curve. From what I’ve seen so far, they’re full of endeavour and full of belief to take it on. Every game is an opportunity. The league doesn’t lie, it’s there for a reason. It can have its anomalies, but at the moment, we feel that we are an anomaly because we’ve been in the driving seat a couple of times and let those situations change. That’s been down to us and me. We’re somewhat correcting that at the moment and we need to correct it further, but you can’t take teams for granted. They’re obviously intent on being in the division.”
